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A review by literyture
All of Us Villains by C.L. Herman, Amanda Foody
4.0
Thank you to the publisher, Tor Teen, for this ARC!
— So. This book. Take the Hunger Games and zoom it in on seven characters, all Career-style players with a historic stake in the games. Then mix in some of the structure of The Atlas Six, and sprinkle in a bit of V E Schwab’s Vicious here, a dash of The Inheritance Games there, and just a touch of Goblet of Fire to really round it off, and you’re starting to get the picture of All of Us Villains. For bonus points, slide in some LGBT main characters, as well.
Be prepared for a slower start and a more thorough introduction than some books of this style, the first 35% or so more akin to The Atlas Six’s gradual introductory style than that of The Hunger Games, where you find yourself at the action almost immediately. I struggled a bit with this as a reader who prefers a faster-paced start, but in truth, it was probably the best structure for the book. With seven characters in the tournament rather than 24 or 50 or more, you don’t want any character to be a background-less token that won’t be missed, so giving them stories and lineages off the bat makes sense.
I’ve seen some say that they were disappointed by certain characters being more misunderstood than truly wicked, based on the expectations set by the title. I get the thought, but I don’t want potential readers to be put off by this distinction! As we see from the beginning, these teens are painted as - and raised to be - villains for their whole lives, but they’re also being used as pawns and sacrifices for their families’ greed. They see themselves as villains and murderers and are expected to behave as such, whether or not that’s who they are.
Ultimately, I actually think this book didn’t cop out where many other YA titles do. I’ve read many a YA title that promises to be high-stakes & deadly, yet hardly a character has a scratch on them by the end. The same isn’t true of this book. The truest villains, perhaps, are the adults, and fear, and greed, so don’t go in expecting all seven teens to be ruthless antagonists throughout, but still prepare for deadly curses, selfish choices, and unwilling sacrifice. The world-building and character dynamics are intriguing…and I’m certain that BookTok will get its hands on the aesthetics soon, with its blood-red moon, its ancient sword, its magically-defended castle, its tucked-away cave and stacks of spell-rings and relics.
I withheld a 5 on this because I did feel like the story was trying too hard to convince me of certain things outright. YA can get away with this a lot more than adult can, but at times I felt a bit beaten over the head by how often the same phrases/concepts were textually repeated. Hopefully the next installment will have established this well enough to ease up on it a bit.
Still, I look forward to seeing where this story goes and will plan on picking it the next book whenever it’s out in the world. Give this one a shot if it sounds up your alley :)
— So. This book. Take the Hunger Games and zoom it in on seven characters, all Career-style players with a historic stake in the games. Then mix in some of the structure of The Atlas Six, and sprinkle in a bit of V E Schwab’s Vicious here, a dash of The Inheritance Games there, and just a touch of Goblet of Fire to really round it off, and you’re starting to get the picture of All of Us Villains. For bonus points, slide in some LGBT main characters, as well.
Be prepared for a slower start and a more thorough introduction than some books of this style, the first 35% or so more akin to The Atlas Six’s gradual introductory style than that of The Hunger Games, where you find yourself at the action almost immediately. I struggled a bit with this as a reader who prefers a faster-paced start, but in truth, it was probably the best structure for the book. With seven characters in the tournament rather than 24 or 50 or more, you don’t want any character to be a background-less token that won’t be missed, so giving them stories and lineages off the bat makes sense.
I’ve seen some say that they were disappointed by certain characters being more misunderstood than truly wicked, based on the expectations set by the title. I get the thought, but I don’t want potential readers to be put off by this distinction! As we see from the beginning, these teens are painted as - and raised to be - villains for their whole lives, but they’re also being used as pawns and sacrifices for their families’ greed. They see themselves as villains and murderers and are expected to behave as such, whether or not that’s who they are.
Ultimately, I actually think this book didn’t cop out where many other YA titles do. I’ve read many a YA title that promises to be high-stakes & deadly, yet hardly a character has a scratch on them by the end. The same isn’t true of this book. The truest villains, perhaps, are the adults, and fear, and greed, so don’t go in expecting all seven teens to be ruthless antagonists throughout, but still prepare for deadly curses, selfish choices, and unwilling sacrifice. The world-building and character dynamics are intriguing…and I’m certain that BookTok will get its hands on the aesthetics soon, with its blood-red moon, its ancient sword, its magically-defended castle, its tucked-away cave and stacks of spell-rings and relics.
I withheld a 5 on this because I did feel like the story was trying too hard to convince me of certain things outright. YA can get away with this a lot more than adult can, but at times I felt a bit beaten over the head by how often the same phrases/concepts were textually repeated. Hopefully the next installment will have established this well enough to ease up on it a bit.
Still, I look forward to seeing where this story goes and will plan on picking it the next book whenever it’s out in the world. Give this one a shot if it sounds up your alley :)